hey all, i just got back from Paradise. really. it's on rainier and it isn't named falsely. we had great weather after the first hour or so and it was a lot of fun. the first hour it was so foggy we couldn't see the folks we were meeting setting up their tents 30 feet away. it's hardcore fog, that. so we walked a half mile up the trail in snowshoes with full packs before we figured it out. not exactly the perfect start.
i did learn how to self-arrest, though, so now i can use an ice ax the way it was meant. i can self-arrest from a face first, feet first or head first on my back position and got my ax into solid stopping snow the best of anyone in the class. we also glisaded. don't know if that's how you spell it...but it's basically sliding down a steep slope on your butt using your ice ax like a rudder to stear around boulders, trees and the like. very fun, very fast and hopefully i have a picture of that coming to show you all. it was sunny the whole weekend, though, which made for one hell of a nice trip. and i got to take out my 15 degree rated sleeping bag for its first trip. made it very happy, let me tell you what.
i also figured out that hot cocoa and oatmeal go well together this morning.
past that i've been looking into moving out and working like mad. i've also found someone to help me to learn how to sew well so that's always good. i've done a fundamental redesign on my shelter and it'll be better for it and have been slowly refining my pack that i want to make. i'm quite excited for this trip and i've figured out a few more things to build into the pack. like a groundcloth that stows in the pouch for the therm-a-rest frame for the pack to sit on in wet/dirty conditions. i can't wait for summer so i can see how light i can go. winter is a real challenge to going light because you really have no margin for error. if you screw up you could die much quicker than in summer. so i want to wait until then to do all of this.
and i just got done with the hat portion of a peruvian chullo that i'm going to say i made for sara. really it was for me but then i made it too small. i've been doing that a lot with this hat. this is the fourth time i've attempted it. so it kinda fits me but it fits here really well. thus it'll be hers. i'm adding the flaps soon. more pictures to follow. talk to you all soon.
that is all.

ok, new post. more of a quick update. i ripped through the da vinci code finally this week and pretty much loved the book until after the reveal of the Teacher. after that you could just see dan thinking to himself, "aaannd iiii'm spent! now, how to end this so as best to make it feel like an over-wrought harvard admissions essay..."
i'm also on the cusp of finishing the Bell Jar. it's been making my skin crawl at times and there really is a reason sylvia plath is one of the great writers. some of the scenes illicit a visceral reaction as well as a mental one. i'll finish off One Hundred Years of Solitude next. it's going to take longer. while it's beautiful it's also plodding along in a major way. i want them to come out of the rural solitude you can feel them in through the wording of the book.
and i'm finally getting on my fuzzy, alpaca flap hat. so i'm looking for a simple peruvian pattern to put onto it. it's going to be super sweet! i'll post pictures when i'm done.
also, i've started to design my own outdoor gear now. there's a fabric shop here that sells a lot of different fabrics such as, but not limited to: cordura nylon, 1.3 and 1.9oz silicon impregnated ripstop nylon and gore-tex by the yard. for an outdoor nerd who has just begun to really think about how to shave pounds off my backpack this is the ultimate godsend. i can now design and make my own gear that shaves off every single thing i don't need and keeps only the leanest esssential bits. for instance, i'm going to make an anorak with the 1.3oz rip-stop so that it's fully waterproof and add little mesh panels in the back for venting. i'll then use a drawsting of 1mm cord on the bottom with two tiny toggle clips. same on the top for the hood cinch. with that i'll have adequate breathing while still having a waterproof jacket that weighs only a few ounces. i am about to jump out of my seat thinking about all the awesome possibilities!
again, i'll post pictures.
until then, be well.
that is all.